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PERPETUAL FLAME

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while DARING GREATLY, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Citizenship in a Republic

Dum Spiro Spero

Whilst I breath, I hope

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”

Michelangelo

In our thirst for justice, an energy evolves that moves from lack to principled abundance. Adversity has called us into action with a kind of journalism of indignation. And, although the term fake news has recently been coined, we fans are more than familiar with its original prototype. The crucifixion of Michael Jackson is a blueprint in the hands of a fractured media, lies told in fast succession. Michael lived out decades speaking truth to power. Our creative call puts that history in motion, our lodestar leading the way. We find ourselves in a journey of call and response as we move from a collective fear to collective ecstasy. With a constellation of choices in front of us, chaos clears as the strands of confusion unravel. Rumi’s meaning made clear: “In the core of my heart, my love for you knows no limits.” Michael spent his life giving people what they needed, knowing full well every individual would thrive. Empowered, we do both heart work and head work. Applying large and small brushstrokes, this art will never be completed unless and until an entire world basks in the glow of the truth…recalling the words Michael spoke: “Not only am I presumed innocent, I am innocent! And I know the truth will be my salvation.”

Michael Jackson understood the power of connection, never taking the path of least resistance. “Courage has a ripple effect. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.” (Brene Brown)

~When you perform, you are out of yourself, larger and more potent, more beautiful. You are, for minutes, heroic. This is power. This is glory on earth…and, it is yours nightly~

Agnes DeMille

Michael moved far beyond nightly potency and power, reaching beyond the moment and into the forever. He has left us the perpetual flame of a leading man. The universe is not short of wake-up calls. With each, we find a language of love and a clarity of meaning as we forge our own blueprints. With each awakening, we are carried home to who we really are, as each experience continues to shape our lives. “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Nelson Mandela

With the transformative power of storytelling, we feel hope through struggle. Sometimes uncomfortable, often unpredictable, we know we will never thrive keeping our heads down and our mouths shut. There is a powerful language in this collective energy as inner beauties are revealed. We are here. We have arrived. We thrive on creativity and learning. We educate…pledging and repledging our futures together. We have learned from Michael peace through strength.

Michael’s artistry and legacy hold a contemporary relevance. He has shown us what it looks like to turn toward rather than away from one another. We have learned to channel collective energy and send it back out into the world using the voice of an ethical pop artist.

~Some people come into our lives quickly and go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the shy more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same~

Unknown

Imprinted on our lives is the idea that we are not born for ourselves. Michael moments resonate in our memory and fuel our steps forward with a good that blesses us as we find out how high we can fly.

“Michael Jackson added one more important component: the spiritual message. Such absolute belief in the power of art to change the consciousness. This complete devotion to the execution of his art works miracles with thousands of people.”

MJBeats

~Be humble, believe in yourself and have the love of the world in your heart~

Michael Jackson

“Michael Jackson understood that to be a real humanitarian was not only in signing checks and performing in charity concerts. For him, it was a full-time job that needed a closer, more intimate and personal scale. The scale of the generosity of Michael has not been seen before in celebrity circles. He was a deeply committed humanitarian who fought to combat youth violence, child abuse, juvenile diabetes, poverty, with all of his heart and soul.”

MJBeats

~Turn him into stars and form a constellation in his image. His face will make the heavens so beautiful that the world will fall in love with the night and forget about the garish sun~

Shakespeare

We will never leave the one who touches our soul more than our bodies. We feel the warmth of his perpetual flame in our hearts knowing that “a star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music, the dance of life.” We have seen his face covered with sweat and the blood of seeking perfection, raising the bar, never settling, and we know it was all for us. We love because he first loved us.

2 thoughts on “PERPETUAL FLAME”

I knew this had been published and simply couldn’t wait to get here today and read it. I was not disappointed. I relish each word you write; knowing that in its entirety, it speaks to my heart as deep calls to deep when two are connected through his love, his life, his legacy. I can think of no better words that ‘perpetual flame’ to describe his lasting effect on my heart – on our hearts. So few throughout history have been able to evoke a flame so powerful that it never goes out. For reasons you have already mentioned, I believe that this flame will never be extinguished, but rather be passed from generation to generation, with thanks to works such as this.

Was Theo Roosevelt a predictor? His quote hit me hard on how precisely he depicted the portrait of the hero who is going yet to come in 50 years. The person who left the ripples on the surface of this planet so strong so they will reverberate in souls, minds and hearts of generations and generations to come. He left us the perpetual flame of his brightest unearthly light of all the possible goodness and kindness we can ever imagine. The flame of HOPE, the hope without which we are lost. What our live would have looked like if not his everlasting inspiration and role model?
Now what we try to do is to share and pass to others, to the world those beautiful sparks of his perpetual flame for us to understand why we are here and what our purposes are. And some of us do it brilliantly – thank you, Jude!